Remember all those corn cobs at the state fair last weekend? Well, Minnesota's corn crop is the strongest in the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. That ranking could translate into profits for our farmers, as the rest of the grain belt struggles with a drought that's causing the weakest projected yields since 1995, and the smallest expected harvest since 2006.

For some perspective, the USDA is expecting 2 billion fewer bushels of
corn than last year -- that's 10.7 billion instead of 2011's 12.26
billion. Nearly one-tenth of that crop is projected to come from
Minnesota, which is currently on track to produce 1.18 billion bushels
of corn.

This year, farmers across the state planted more corn
acreage than ever. And all those acres are yielding higher returns than
the rest of the country's: While the USDA predicts a national per-acre
average of 122.8 bushels, Minnesota is on track to produce 156 bushels
of corn for every acre planted. We've felt the drought too -- that state
average is lower than past years' -- but the 33-bushel difference
between us and the rest of the country is significant.

The USDA's
report was actually better than expected. After the updated
projections, corn prices fell, though farmers can still expect to earn
more than $7 per bushel (benchmark: on August 10, prices hit a record high
of $8.49 per bushel). According to
the Wall Street Journal, these steep prices "will ripple through food
markets, eventually hitting consumers." Stock up on corn (and more
importantly, corn-fed meat) while you can.